


Funny How We're Soulmates

by usachanbeccer



Series: TAZ Soulmate AU [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Barry is a nerd, F/M, Gonna cover all the ships, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Modern AU, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Swearing will happen, because I'm living for soulmate aus, blupjeans first because i love them, everyone is somehow at the same college, of age drinking mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 18:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12636417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usachanbeccer/pseuds/usachanbeccer
Summary: Barry had the same words written over his heart since the day he was born. “Whoa, nerd alert!” in a curly script and brilliant red ink, letting him know ever since he learned to read exactly what his soulmate thought of him. He just hoped that first impressions weren't everything, afterall, this was his soulmate, right?(Blupjeans soulmate au because I needed it)





	Funny How We're Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friends for letting me yell about Barry and his nerd self. I love my denim boy and his nerd self. This is also the first soulmate au I have written how do they even work????

Barry had the same words written over his heart since the day he was born. “Whoa, nerd alert!” in a curly script and brilliant red ink, letting him know ever since he learned to read exactly what his soulmate thought of him. 

 

One conversation about soulmates that stuck in Barry’s mind happened when he was almost twelve.

 

There had been a seven year old that lived down the street who was always boasting about the soulmark that spread like wings across his back. He was also the only kid in the neighborhood to listen to Barry ramble off facts so the two often spent long summer days together.

 

That day, the two had wandered down to the lake to escape from the summer heat for a while, the sun bearing down on their backs as they walked. When they made it to the water’s edge, the younger boy quickly discarded his shoes and shirt, jumping and splashing into the water with a shout.

 

“Magnus! You’re gonna get my shirt wet!” Barry scolded, stumbling out of the spraying droplets.

 

“Then hurry up!” Magnus laughed, ducking under the surface of the water as Barry rolled his eyes. 

 

Barry considered it for a moment, he did want to cool off in the water, but he couldn’t swim. He also didn’t want Magnus to see his soulmark, Magnus loved to tease him and he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. 

 

“Barry, hurry up I wanna have a water fight!” 

 

Barry took a deep breath, Magnus wouldn’t even notice it, he wasn’t a very observant kid anyway. 

 

Barry took off his shirt and folded it neatly before placing it on top of his discarded shoes, then he ran into the water up to his waist, sending water spraying up as he made his way over to Magnus. 

 

“Hey!” Magnus laughed, wiping water from his face before sending a wave towards the older boy. Magnus laughed as they sent water spraying up at each other, the day passing as the two splashed and hollered. 

 

After awhile the boys were tired and decided to lay in the soft grass close to the water, watching the clouds go by as they talked.

 

“Barry, what do you think your soulmate’s like?” Magnus asked, turning his head to look at Barry, a curious glint in his eyes.

 

“W-why do you ask?” Barry sputtered, he and Magnus barely talked about soulmates or soulmarks unless it was about how “cool” Magnus’s was. 

 

“Well I see your soulmark and I wanna know!” Magnus shrugged before continuing, “I think my soulmate likes dogs. Maybe we’ll own lotsa dogs!”

 

Barry laughed, “I think my soulmate’s gonna be amazing.” 

 

Magnus looked over at Barry before laughing. Barry blushed a bit before shoving the younger boy away.

 

“Cut it out, you asked!” Barry pulling himself to feet, stomping over to his belongings to tug his shirt on over his head, covering up his soulmark.

 

“But Barry!” Magnus complained, rolling over onto his stomach to fix Barry with a pouty look.

 

Barry rolled his eyes, tossing Magnus his things.

 

Magnus groaned but pulling his shirt and shoes on. Barry led the way back to Magnus’s house, listening to Magnus chatter about what he’d name all the dogs he would have in the future.

 

“I think Georgie is a good dog name,” Barry finally sighed, stopping in front of the house.

 

“Yeah, it is!” Magnus beamed up at Barry. Barry smiled back, lightly ruffling the boy’s hair before turning to go to his own home.

 

“Wait Barry!”

 

Barry turned to look back at the younger boy with a curious gaze.

 

“Sorry for laughing, ya know, earlier... You’re soulmate’s gonna be amazing, ‘cause they’ll be nerdy like you!” 

 

Barry blinked, unsure how to respond. In the end, he just let Magnus wave goodbye and scamper inside his home to the dinner that was surely waiting for him. A soulmate as nerdy as him? Wouldn’t that be something.

 

After that, Barry had devoted his time to school. Eventually leading him to study bio-medicine in school. He had ended up as a fifth year student because of how many credits he ended up taking. The only good thing that came from that was that his friend Magnus had ended up going to the same school as him so they would be able to have at least one year of them being  roommates before Barry moved onto his master’s degree. 

 

It was well into the first semester when Magnus brought up the subject again. 

 

“Hey, did you ever, ya know, meet your soulmate?” Magnus asked, tossing the small stuffed dog he had at Barry.

 

“Nah, I’ve been too busy with this degree I’m earning.” Barry responded, picking the stuffed dog up off the ground and placing it on his desk.

 

Magnus groaned dramatically, flopping an arm over his eyes as he did.

 

“Careful Burnsides, people might mistake you for a theatre major,” Barry snorted, closing his textbook and swiveling his chair to face the larger man, “besides, you haven’t met your soulmate either.”

 

Magnus stopped grumbling, removing his arm to give Barry a mischievous grin.

 

“I don’t like that look...”

 

Magnus hopped out of bed, rushing to his closet to fish out a red flannel, tossing it on over his black t-shirt before going over to Barry’s closet.

 

“Dude, we are going out tonight and you are meeting your soulmate, let’s go.” He grabbed the red hoodie that was hanging up in Barry’s closet and threw it at the older man. 

 

Barry sputtered, swatting the hoodie away with his reflexes. 

 

“I-I can’t just go out! I never go out, I don’t even know how!” He replied with a thinly veiled lie, the only way to get alcohol as an 18 year old bio-med student was to go out, and some nights Barry just needed the alcohol. 

 

“Bull, I’ve seen your snapchats, we’re going.” 

 

Twenty minutes and a quick Wal-Mart run later the two were walking into a party, Barry with his “adult beverage thank you very much” and Magnus with his “oh no I’m actually eighteen ma’am” bottle of Pepsi.  

 

“Alright, I’m gonna mingle, you just, uh be a nerd and find your soulmate and break!” Magnus clapped Barry hard on the shoulder before rushing off to talk to some of his football teammates. 

 

Barry steeled himself before downing the rest of his drink and tossing it in the trash. He could do this. Right?

 

Barry wandered about awkwardly, he didn’t usually party with the sport teams, opting to spend his weekends with the theatre or science majors, their parties were always memorable in one way or another. 

 

Barry wandered the house, not really paying attention to where he was going, causing him to bump into a pair of people. 

 

“Whoa, nerd alert!” Two twin voices rang out and Barry’s blood ran cold. It was directed at him, that was his soulmark, but two people said it. 

 

Barry glanced up to see who had said it, and his blood ran cold, the Taaco Twins. They were the most intimidating students on campus, somehow both gorgeous and popular while passing all their courses with what seemed like no effort. He had always made a point of steering clear of them, afraid that they wouldn’t like him or tease him, just as they had, oh boy.

 

“I, uh, I, shit.” Barry stammered, stumbling backwards, trying to leave. The crowd behind him made it difficult but he managed, escaping from the house and into the front yard. He just needed some fresh air and time. Time to think. 

 

Barry wasn’t given the time to think as Magnus rushed out the door a few moments later. 

 

“Barry! Are you alright? I saw you run out of there like a fucking sprinter, you good?” Magnus asked, placing a gentle hand on Barry’s shoulder. 

 

Barry waved his hand away, turning from the taller man and grabbing at his shaggy hair. 

 

“I did it, Magnus. I met my soulmate.”

 

Magnus laughed once more, but Barry cut him off, “it’s either Taako or Lup and I don’t know but I can’t just  _ ask them Magnus. _ ”

 

“Ask us what?” 

 

Barry spun around to face the front door where Lup and Taako were leaning out of it lazily, a curious but bored expression on their faces.

 

“Uh, nothing, just, uh, bye.” Barry turned back around and ran, running back to campus to his dorm just to get away from it all. 

 

Barry had hoped the party would be the last time the whole soulmate situation, however Lup had other plans. 

 

She had found Barry alone in a lab working on his midterm project. 

 

“I gotta talk to you.” Barry jumped at the sudden noise but settled when he realized it was only Lup. He could handle her, just her and no tag-team attack by her and her twin. This was fine he could handle this.

 

“Oh, uh, sure, what’s uh, what’s up?” Barry asked, setting down the experiment to get her his attention. 

 

“At that party last week, you said you couldn’t ask us something, why?” Lup asked, sitting on the stool next to him, her eyes curious but guarded. Barry sighed, he should’ve known.

 

“Well, uh, this is gonna sound stupid, but uh it’s about soulmarks?” He avoided looking at her as he explained. “I didn’t want to ask because you’re very intimidating. And also it’s a bit of a personal question to ask someone you’ve never talked to...”

 

Lup gave a small laugh, placing a gentle hand on his knee.

 

“Barry, you know we’re like, regular people, right? I mean, we’re flawless, sure, but we aren’t scary.” Lup brought her other hand to his chin, lifting it up so he was looking at her face, a gentle smile tugging on her lips. 

 

“Barry what about soulmarks did you want to know?”

 

Barry didn’t know his blush could get any stronger until Lup fixed him with that look, turning his knees to jelly despite his sitting position.

 

“Uhhhhh.”

 

Lup laughed, removing her hands from Barry and placing them on her own knees, leaning back a bit.

 

Barry shook his head to clear his thoughts a bit, he could do this, she had just given her permission to ask. He could ask about her soulmark.

 

“Lup, what’s your soulmark?” 

 

Lup’s eye’s widened a bit before she burst out in a roar of laughter, doubling over and clutching her stomach.

 

“Oh my God, Barry, is that  _ all _ ?! That’s such a first grade question, here, look.” Lup shrugged off her sweatshirt before tugging at the collar of her crop top, showing off her collarbone.

 

Barry stared at the writing on her, it was his words, his smudged and rushed writing that graced her copper skin. 

 

“Holy shit.” He breathed.

 

“Right? Boy doesn’t my soulmate have a way with words.” Lup laughed, releasing the fabric. 

 

Barry blinked at her, did she not know? She’d have to have heard what he said to her at the party.

 

“Lup, can I, wait shit. Okay, I’ve got another question.” Barry rushed, stumbling out of the chair and hurriedly putting away his experiment. 

 

“Uh, okay? But why are you putting everything away?” Lup asked, handing him some papers that he couldn’t quite reach.

 

“Well, I wanted to show you my soulmark, but it’s not really in a great place to just whip out in a lab room so I was gonna ask if you’d head back to my dorm but I was trying to figure a way to say it without sounding like a creep.” Barry sighed, shoving the papers in his bag. “That was not the way to do it, by the way.”

 

Lup laughed, hopping off her chair and reaching out a hand to ruffle his hair, “well, a mark for a mark, right? So long as it’s not on your butt.”

 

Barry turned absolutely red at that remark. He stammered and sputtered at that, “n-no! It’s not, I’d never, I mean, no!” 

 

Lup laughed, “Barry it’s a joke, lighten up, you’re a good guy, okay?” Lup grabbed his bag and slid it on her shoulders, leading the way.

 

“Besides, if you try anything I’ll just punch you.” 

 

The walk back to the dorms was pleasant, the two spent the walk talking about their classes, similar enough with them both studying a science. Barry learned a lot about Lup in just the short five minutes they spent heading to his dorm. He learned about her love of baking, which led her to chemistry and her love of reading anything and everything. He also learned that Lup was hoping to become a chemical engineer and find better ways to do make things. Barry also learned that Lup was a very passionate and fiery person, who he could spend all day listening to her list her favorite elements of the periodic table or complain about her professors, Barry knew they were soulmates because of their soulmarks, and he was glad that the universe gave him an excuse to fall completely and honestly for the woman. 

 

Once they had made it to his dorm he shut the door and pulled out his desk chair, offering it to Lup with an awkward smile, it was too late to back out now.

 

“Okay, so where is this famous soulmark, Bluejeans?” Lup said, flopping into the chair and letting Barry’s bag drop to the ground with a thud.

 

Barry rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, looking at the floor for a moment before mumbling.

 

“Come again?”

 

“My, uh, my soulmark is on my chest, so uh, can you not, like, can you not laugh please?” Barry asked, looking at her pitifully. Lup smiled, biting back a laugh as he did. 

 

“Lup! I said don’t laugh!”

 

“Sorry! You’re just, you’re like a little turtle, very shy and very cute. Do go on.” Lup smiled up at him innocently.

 

Barry rolled his eyes but complied, he made it this far in discovering his soulmate, he could let her know about it.

 

Barry pulled off his shirt and looked away from Lup, it was big enough that she could see it from where she sat but she stood up, immediately in his space examining his soulmark. 

 

She placed her hands cautiously on it, tracing the words as she did. Barry watched her with wide eyes, this was it, she would be able to connect the dots after this, she was smart. 

 

“I, uh, I, shit,” She breathed, looking up at him with eyes that were full of realization. 

 

Barry chuckled, grabbing the hand that was still on his chest with shaking fingers, “that’s my line.”

 

Lup laughed breathlessly, lacing her fingers with his as she did. 

 

“I can’t believe my soulmate’s a fucking nerd.” She shook her head, smiling at the man as she did. Barry smiled back, he was okay with being a nerd as long as he was her nerd. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, might explore other ships with this? Leave a review or comment if you'd like or hmu @is-this-mandatory on tumblr! See you later!


End file.
